Let's just get on with it!

You can't help liking Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

He is what I call a "Go for it" as opposed to a "better not." You know what I mean? Some of us will have a go at things. We have an instinctive feeling that this is the right thing to do. We know we should look into it more and be better prepared... but that if we did we would delay matters when there is more than enough good to come from just getting on with it.  And all of that wonderful "Go for it" attitude is reflected in today's launch announced by Boris of a brilliant cycling scheme for London. Although admitting that "things aren't fully in place and there will be teething problems!" it is up and running. A network of 400 docking stations within the capital with 6000 cycles available at a daily hire charge of £1 providing Londoners with a healthy and carbon free commute to work.

This particular "Go for" initiative probably grabs my interest because it's about bikes. And buying my bike for my 54th birthday when I hadn't ridden one for 40 years was probably my very first "Go for it" that launched me into the OnWeGo idea.

"Go for its" don't particularly get on with "better nots." "Better nots" generally tend to see the problems in things and avoid doing them. In fact they seem to avoid doing most things. Although they do seem pretty good at booing from the sidelines when a "Go for it" is having a go at something. And they are great at giving post-mortems when "Go for it" ideas crash.  They worry too much about others watching them and what they will be thinking. And they let this hold them back and limit their enjoyment of life.

Worryingly...I'm sure as we mature we can gradually morph into "Better nots!"

"Better not change my job to something I really want to do!"
"Better not start up that on-line business idea I've got!"
"Better not sign up for that writing course.!"
"Better not take up martial arts!"
"Better not wear my shorts on the bike!!!!"
 And you know what the remedy is for that don't you.....as Boris demonstrated when with hair and jacket akimbo he waved the Olympic Flag at the Bejing closing ceremony....just go for it!

The Meaning of Life!

What is the meaning of  life? The Monty Python version cracks me up... but the events of yesterday with its own cast also made for an interesting story.
Lynda sent a message that her dear Aunty May had died. She was 92 and lived in a care home. A really good one where she was well cared for. But the image of her being raised from a chair in a mechanical hoist with an expression that mixed pain with indignity is for me the one that gets you thinking  it was a happy release for her. Her only daughter is away on the "holiday of a lifetime to China" for 10 days.. but May won't mind having to wait for a few tears to be shed.
Ted the window cleaner called. We share tips on curing golfer's elbow and we put the world to right. So I was disappointed when he said he was retiring..."Have too...arthritis in the back" he explained. But I excused him when he said he was 68. Respect Ted. You're a fit old beggar! He's looking for a warmer climate now to ease his aches and pains.
Grand-daughter Jas finished her year as a Teaching Assistant at the local academy. The kids gave her a farewell present and so she was in bits. But she's off to university in September and will already be looking forward to that.
It was Eddie's leaving day at the local middle school. He had an amazing end-of-school report that described him as "an old fashioned gentleman" and "like a tardis... with an outside that totally disguises the unexpected capabilities inside of him!" He'll be keen to see what the girls are like at the academy! 
Charlie also had a leaving day...making the step up from First to Middle School. He wasn't overly sentimental. Sky Sports was talking up the new football season. "In your face!" was his only expression of emotion to me when the screen flashed Ajax 1 Chelsea 0.
And Ronnie finished pre-school nursery en-route to first school. Apparently the staff and mothers were in bits. Each little 'un was presented with their own pre-school history...lovingly captured in numerous photographs and messages. Ronnie proudly showed me his... although now clearly bored by its familiarity he did hurry me through it. But not before I spotted a clearly special moment for both the staff and Ron:
"2/2/09  Stood up to pee for the first time!"
Way to go Ron. OnWeGo!

Retirement? We can't afford it!

Well I go to the foot of our stairs! There is me championing OnWeGo with its selfless self-fulfilling philosophies for carrying on working ...and it could be that for us lads it might just be a necessity!
It seems that as far as our better halves are concerned one in four of them is happy being a kept woman!
That was one of the shocking findings in a survey of 1400 women carried out by myvouchercodes.co.uk.  It included the ubiquitous list. This particular one ranking the items that women thought their partner was likely to pay for:

 Food Shopping - 81%. 
Meal - 77%. 
Holiday - 69%.
Mobile bill – 55%. 
Appliances – 51%. 
Household bills – 49%. 
MOT – 43%. 
Clothes – 31%.
Salon visits – 28%.
Farhad Farhadi, personal finance expert at MyVoucherCodes did express her surprise that the "kept woman" attitude prevailed today, and offered the view
"Perhaps some women get caught up in the fantasy of living a life of luxury and having a lavish lifestyle funded by a wealthy man, but I think a line needs to be drawn somewhere and women should still want to be independent and successful!" 
And maybe Farhad's last comment is our "get out of jail card" lads? In which case as you're collecting your better half from the hair dresser's you may want to casually mention another survey with list of course.This one is by  Forbes Magazine  and it shows "The Fastest Growing Jobs for Women..."

Based on Laurence Shatkin's forecasts for the 21st century the prediction is for considerable growth in the health sector. Whilst drawn from US economic forecasts there are good reasons to anticipate a similar situation in the UK. The most in demand jobs for the coming years are listed as:
Home Health Aides.
Skin Care Specialists.
Athletic Trainers.
Physical Therapist Aides
Dental Hygienists
Veterinary Technologists
So it could be good news all round lads. Help paying the hair dressing bills and our own personal trainer as well!

The Power of alternative therapy

I like to think that I'm open minded about alternative therapy. Not gullible...open minded and suitably informed! I certainly believe that we can sort out most of what ails us just by getting our head in the right place. That belief was introduced to me 40 years ago by a Harley Street Consultant Neurologist. He "confessed" that 50% of diagnoses are probable rather than certain. That 50% of ailments we self-cure when we believe that we're on the mend. And that half of his job therefore was about creating that positive belief!
I guess I'm also a bit of an oriento-phile. Probably due to those early Kung-Fu movies etc. But I'm convinced that oriental medicine has lots to offer. Again a belief instilled by a conventional medic. That was 25 years ago when the consultant anaesthetist at my local hospital was treating my slipped disc with acupuncture...and distracted my attention from the needles with enthusiastic tales of his studies in China.

All of which made me an easy convert to the health benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong.
Under the patient guidance of Burni at NorthantsTai-Chi I "mastered" the short square form which gets an outing most mornings.  He also explained the cause behind the health effect... and this is my recall not his explanation - basically each movement is massaging the blood flow (thats's the chi or energy) and the lymphatic system flow all around the body. Plus there is some stimulation of the meridians ...that's the acupuncture bit! But there is loads of stuff on the web that explains it. Including a noteable address to the Press Club of Canada in 2008 by the Medical adviser to the International Taoist Tai Chi Society. With endorsements from health professionals across the world he includes amongst the benefits of Tai Chi:

• a moderate cardiovascular training exercise...also has a significant effect on lung function.
• can beneficially alter the lipid profile.
• has been shown to improve the activities of daily living for people with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis - to name a few.
• helps regulate the immune system.
• helps postural alignment and helps reduce spinal degeneration.
• is a weight bearing exercise, which possibilitybenefits for maintaining bone density.

• is rated as a highly effective exercise for prevention of falls in the elderly - (close to my heart this one - balance problems...what with no reflexes since the disc op'!)
So a definite big tick for the proven benefits of Tai Chi!
But I must own up to one possible gullibility. And that's for magnetic therapy!
Not just single...but multiple magnetic therapy!  Such is the power of the force I emit that what I thought was a stumbly moment when getting out of my car recently was actually magnetic attraction towards adjacent parked vehicles! 

I'm not sure what the attraction is (sorry!)
It may be that I simply do have an open and inquiring mind?
It may be because it actually does seem to have cured my suspected gout?
It may be because apparently..it cures my balance problem and I can now stand on one leg?
Or it may just be because of an inexplicable senior urge to behave oddly!!!

Look out he's kickingoff again!

I went to see Tony Bennet at the Royal Albert Hall last Wednesday. What a marvellous experience it was. What an perfect example he is to the spirit of OnWeGo! And can there be a better anthem for us than "The best is yet to come?”
It was a sell out of course. Not a problem at the Albert Hall ...unless you happen to be in the 2nd row of the upper circle behind people who choose to watch the show leaning over the balcony rail! And with no attendant in sight!
I was ok. The guy to my left had a problem and I was glad to have a word on his behalf with the nice young girl sat in front.  Lynda sat to my right wasn’t so lucky. She had the O’Gormless family in front of her. I couldn’t attract their attention. Not without standing up and leaning over. Lynda prevented that.
She was remembering a place she had been to before.
It was the Barbra Streisand Concert at the O2 arena ...and I was attempting to silence a couple of constantly chatting chavs. Their suggestion that I "do myself a favour and keep quiet!" very likely prevented our ejection from the O2 just as Barbra was getting into the first verse of “People.”

She would also be remembering a particularly busy day at the London Eye when after an hour being obediently herded to the front...the "stockman" insisted that we had jumped the queue and must go to the back. It was very impressive how Lynda halted my incandesent verbal carnage. A whispered explanation brought an anxious stare and a nod from our dayglo vested chum and we were ushered through.
Over the years I've learnt that certain situations (and public orderliness certainly seems to be one trigger) will deprive me of any ability to articulate reason and sense!
So it's not a grumpy old man thing...it's just that we are all different. And my difference is that I'm one of those kinaesthetics.

You know. The ones that think by feeling things inwardly rather than expressing them outwardly. Heated moments and cool words don't co-exist in our world! You'll easily spot us... we switch instantly from contemplative deep trance to shambolic rant.
So if you ever happen to encounter such a rant please be tolerant and sympathetic...you won't make sense of us...or reason with us...better just to smile and wonder what you've done wrong!
We're off to the Hampton Court Flower Show later this week.
Hope the queues aren't too long! 

Older workers are more engaged!

You would think that things are bad enough for us blokes at the moment....what with England getting booted out of the World Cup! But the good old Daily Mail have followed up their recent article on our immunity to nagging, with another article this Wednesday...going in studs up with the headline:

"More than three-quarters of mothers say their partner 'never lifts a finger' around the house!"

It's the fathers amongst us who are targeted here. And in a study commissioned by thebabywebsite.com into mothers' feelings about their other half's attitude towards home life and housework, some pretty damning comments are made.

Comments like:  "Puts his feet up!" "Deliberately ignoring  tasks!" "Left to manage the house and the children!"  And they rounded things off with a top 20 wish-list of jobs that dad's should do. Podium positions going to 1)"tidy up after themselves" 2)"clean toilets" 3) "fix things around the house." So please take note lads.

Interestingly the Daily Mail carried another article the same day which may have a bearing on all of this?

"Men get more fired up about work the nearer they are to retirement!"

This article reports on a Government commissioned study at the University of Portsmouth into employee engagement levels as men and women near retirement. The key finding was that albeit from a lower level of engagement men have a higher "bounce back" level at the end of their careers.

And a key conclusion from the study that us OnWeGo'ers should definitely be shouting about is:  

"...older, more experienced workers are generally more 'engaged', employers should be encouraged to hang on to those who would like to work beyond the current statutory retirement age."

So let's go for it then!
By the way. When putting the two articles together I couldn't help theorising on a likely cause of this pre-retirement "bounce."
Could it be the thought of tidying up after ourselves ... cleaning toilets... and all those things around the house we never fixed???